Cyber-physical systems combine computational, communication, sensory and control capabilities to monitor and regulate physical domain processes. Cyber-physical systems broadly focus on monitoring and controlling a physical process, and may include capabilities to: sense the physical world (e.g., the position of a valve controlling a tank filling process); make decisions (e.g., whether it is necessary to open or close the valve); and perform actions in physical world (e.g. open or close valve to maintain tank fluid level). Cyber-physical systems are becoming increasingly prevalent, filing roles in the civilian (e.g., power grid, public utility services, financial infrastructure, etc.) and defense (e.g., search and rescue missions and command, control, and conquer (C3) systems) spaces.
Cyber-physical systems are becoming increasingly accessible to attackers via increased network access to communication with control rooms, command and control stations, other computer based systems and networks such as the Internet. Examples of cyber-physical systems include transportation networks, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's), nuclear power generation, electric power distribution networks, water and gas distribution networks, and advanced communication systems. Current technology has often introduced the capability of integrating information from numerous instrumentation and control systems and transmitting the information to operations personnel in a timely manner.